| (a) The design of the electrical systems must be done
by or under the direction of a licensed professional electrical engineer
approved by the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors
to operate in Texas, and the parts of the plans and specifications
covering electrical design must bear the legible seal of the engineer.
(1) Utilities; heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning
systems; vertical conveyors; and chutes must meet the requirements
of NFPA 101, Chapter 9, Building Service and Fire Protection Equipment.
(2) Fire protection systems, including fire alarms,
must meet the requirements of §554.357 of this division (relating
to Fire Protection Systems for New Facilities).
(3) Lighting and outlets at resident bedrooms must
meet the requirements of §554.354 of this division (relating
to Architectural Space Planning and Utilization for New Facilities).
(b) Electrical systems.
(1) Electrical systems must meet the installation requirements
of NFPA 70.
(2) Electrical systems must meet the performance requirements
of NFPA 99.
(3) Branch circuits serving resident bedrooms must
meet the requirements of NFPA 99.
(4) Essential Electrical System (EES).
(A) To provide electricity during an interruption of
the normal electric supply, an emergency source of electricity must
be provided and connected to certain circuits for lighting and power.
All facilities covered by this section must comply with the EES requirements
for new health care facilities in NFPA 99, based on the risk category
determined by the assessment required by §554.300(i) of this
subchapter (relating to General Requirements).
(i) If the determined risk category is Category 2,
as defined in NFPA 99, the EES must meet the requirements for a Type
II EES according to NFPA 99.
(ii) If the determined risk category is Category 1,
as defined in NFPA 99, the EES must meet the requirements for a Type
I EES according to NFPA 99.
(iii) A Type I EES serving a portion of a facility
categorized as Category 1 risk is permitted to also serve a portion
of the same facility categorized as Category 2 risk.
(iv) Distribution requirements for Type I or Type II
EES must be according to NFPA 99.
(B) In addition to systems and devices required for
the type of EES installed, the following systems and devices must
be connected to the appropriate branches of the EES, according to
NFPA 99:
(i) illumination for the following areas:
(I) means of egress, including areas immediately outside
of exit doors;
(II) nurses' stations;
(III) medication rooms;
(IV) dining, living, and recreation rooms, including
activity rooms;
(V) bathing rooms not directly connected to resident
bedrooms;
(ii) exit signs and exit directional signs as required
by NFPA 101;
(iii) alarm systems, including fire alarms and alarms
required for nonflammable medical gas systems, if installed;
(iv) task illumination and selected receptacles at
the generator set location;
(v) selected duplex receptacles including receptacles
in such areas in resident corridors, at each resident bed location,
in nurses' stations, and in medication rooms, including biologicals
refrigerator;
(vi) nurse call systems;
(vii) resident room night lights;
(viii) a light and receptacle in an electrical room
or a boiler room;
(ix) elevator cab lighting, control, and communication
systems;
(x) all facility telephone equipment;
(xi) paging or speaker systems, if intended for communication
during an emergency. Radio transceivers installed for emergency use
must be capable of operating for at least one hour upon total failure
of both normal and emergency power.
(xii) Heating Equipment to Provide Heating for Resident
Bedrooms. A facility must provide heating in resident bedrooms during
disruption of the normal power source unless one of the following
conditions applies:
(I) The outside design temperature is higher than 20
degrees Fahrenheit (-6.7 degrees Celsius);
(II) The outside design temperature is lower than 20
degrees Fahrenheit (-6.7 degrees Celsius) and, when selected rooms
are provided for the needs of all residents, then only such rooms
need be heated.
(III) The facility is served by a dual source of normal
power.
(xiii) A facility must provide throw-over facilities
to allow the temporary operation of any elevator for the release of
passengers in instances when an interruption of power would result
in elevators stopping between floors.
(C) The emergency lighting must be automatically in
operation within ten seconds after the interruption of the normal
power supply. Emergency egress lighting must not be switched.
(D) Receptacles and switches connected to emergency
power must have red faceplates.
(E) The design and installation of emergency motor
generators must be according to NFPA 37, NFPA 99, and NFPA 110.
(i) Nursing facilities and contiguous or same-site
facilities, such as hospitals and assisted living facilities, may
be served by the same generating equipment so long as the integrity
of the individual facilities' emergency or back-up power systems is
not compromised. This permission applies only to the generating equipment
and not to automatic or manual transfer switches or to distribution
systems.
(ii) Generators must be located a minimum of three
feet from a combustible exterior building finish and a minimum of
five feet from a building opening, if located on the exterior of the
building.
(iii) A facility must provide a noncombustible protective
cover or the protection recommended by the manufacturer when a generator
is located on the exterior of the building.
(iv) Stored fuel capacity must be sufficient for not
less than four hours of required generator operation.
(v) Motor generators fueled by public utility natural
gas must have the capability to be switched to an alternate fuel source
according to NFPA 70.
(F) The wiring circuits for the EES must be kept entirely
independent of all other wiring and must not enter the same race-ways,
boxes, or cabinets according to NFPA 70.
(G) A facility must meet the requirements for the administration
of the EES, including maintenance and testing of the EES, according
to the requirements of NFPA 99 for the type of EES installed, and
the requirements of §554.326(d) of this subchapter (relating
to Safety Operations).
(5) General Lighting Requirements. General lighting
requirements are as follows:
(A) All spaces occupied by people, machinery, equipment,
approaches to buildings, and parking lots must have lighting.
(B) All quality, intensity, and type of lighting must
be adequate and appropriate to the space and all functions within
the space.
(C) Minimum lighting levels can be found in the Illuminating
Engineering Society Lighting Handbook, latest edition, but must not
be lower than the following.
(i) Minimum illumination must be 20 footcandles in
resident rooms, corridors, nurses' stations, dining rooms, lobbies,
toilets, bathing facilities, laundries, stairways, and elevators.
Illumination requirements for these areas apply to lighting throughout
the space and are measured at approximately 30 inches above the floor
anywhere in the room.
(ii) Minimum illumination for over-bed reading lamps,
medication-preparation or storage area, kitchens, and nurses' station
desks must be 50 footcandles. Illumination requirements for these
areas apply to the task performed and are measured on the task.
(D) A facility must provide general illumination, with
provisions for reduction of light levels at night, in a nursing unit
corridor.
(E) A facility must provide a basket wire guard or
other suitable shield to prevent breakage or contact between combustible
materials and exposed incandescent light bulbs, or other high-heat
generating lamps, in closets or other similar spaces.
(F) Exposed incandescent or fluorescent bulbs are not
permitted in food service or other areas where glass fragments from
breakage may get into food, medications, linens, or utensils. A facility
must protect all fluorescent bulbs with a shield or catcher to prevent
bulb drop-out.
(6) Receptacles or convenience outlets.
(A) Receptacles in bedrooms must meet the requirements
in §554.354(a)(6) of this division (relating to Architectural
Space Planning and Utilization for New Facilities).
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